Improvement in bridles



UNTTED STATES PATENT Ormea.,

S. B. HARTMAN, MILLERSVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN BRlDLES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 59,596, dated November 13, 1866.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, S. B. HARTMAN, of Millersville, in the county of Lancaster and State of Pennsylvania, have inventednew and useful Improvements in Bridles 5 and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same7 reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification.

The present invention relates to improvements in bridles for which a caveat was filed in the secret archives of the United States Patent Office on the 30th day of December, A. D. 1865. By these improvements the checkrein used in the bridle which formed the subjectof Letters Patent granted to me on the 7th day of November, A. D. 1865, is dispensed with, and for it the safety or supplementary reins described in the said Letters Patent substituted. These reins, in lieu of being passed from the bit to and through guides or rings of the hames ofthe collar, at or near which place they entered the ordinary driving-reins, eX- tending through them to the drivers hands, as stated in the aforesaid Letters Patent, are passed from the bit up to and through suitable guide-rings or pulleys of the throat strap or latch, and from thence to the terret-rings of the saddle, where, enteringthe ordinary har- -ness or drivin g-reins, they pass loosely through the same, as in the former Letters Patent, to the drivers han ds, having loops there attached to them for the purpose of more conveniently grasping and pulling them by the hands.

Having thus in general terms stated the principal features of the present invention, 1 will now proceed to describe the same in detail, together with other minor improvements in the bridle, reference being had to the accompanying plate of drawing, in which the figure is a view of the head and a portion of the body of the ligure of a horse, to which my improvements in bridles are represented as applied.

A in the drawing represents the cheekstraps of the bridle; B, the throat-latch; C, the ordinary driving-reins, which, as usual, pass through the terret-rings F on the saddle, and thence through the-martingale-rings, or directly to the rings G of the bit H, to which they are fastened or buckled; I, the supplemental lines or reins, which pass through or are fitted in the reins C, so as to work or draw loosely therein. rllhese reins I, passing out of the reins-G, at or near the terret-rings F upon the front side of the same, and thence to and through pulleys K, hung to the throatlatch, from whence they pass to the ring-bits, and around and through the same, are attached to the cheek-straps, or formed as a part and continuation thereof. rlhe cheek -straps A are doubled upon each side of the head ofthe horse, so as to form loops L, for holdingthe bit by its rings, which, as is obvious, prevents the bit from falling out of the mouth of the horse, as well as holds the bit in proper place thereon, this form of the cheek-straps being necessary to produce a hold upon it in the mouth independent of the supplemental reins which would, were not such double cheekstraps used, allow the bit to fall out of the mouth, provided they (the reins l) were at all loosely held.

From the above-described manner of arranging the supplementary reins l in reference to the bridle or headstall of the harness and the ordinary driving-reins, it is plain to be understood that the horse can be always controlled, for should it become restive or unmanageable7 or show any signs of kicking or throwing up its hind legs, by-simply pulling upon the supplementary reins I, (for convenience in handling which loops are to be formed at the ends where they are grasped in the hands,) which so acts upon the bit in the horses mouth as to throw the head up, where it can be held as long as desired, in which position of the head, as is well known, it is perfectly impossible for the horse to kick, but it is reduced to a complete state of sub1] ugation and control.

In lieu of passing the supplemental reins from the bit through pulleys of the throatlatch, rings may be substituted for the pulleys, and the said reins may be also passed to the terret-rings, where they enter the ordinary reins, in many other ways than that herein particularly explained, it being only essential that they should be passed in such a manner that when pulled by the person driving the horse they will cause the bit to act in an upward direction against the commissure, palate, or tender part of the horses mouth. Pulleys l by Letters Patent, is-

1. The safety check lines or reins I, when such reins are arranged in connection with the 'bridle and connected to the bit-rings, or their equivalents, so as to operate upon the bit, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. The double or looped cheek-straps A, in combination with the reins I, substantially' as described, and for the purpose specified.

S. B. HARTMAN.

Witnesses WM. B. WILEY, GEO. BRUBAKER. 

